Based on Joshua 10:1-15 (New King James Version)
“Now it came to pass when Adoni-Zedek king of Jerusalem heard how Joshua had taken Ai and had utterly destroyed it—as he had done to Jericho and its king, so he had done to Ai and its king—and how the inhabitants of Gibeon had made peace with Israel and were among them, that they feared greatly, because Gibeon was a great city, like one of the royal cities, and because it was greater than Ai, and all its men were mighty. Therefore Adoni-Zedek king of Jerusalem sent to Hoham king of Hebron, Piram king of Jarmuth, Japhia king of Lachish, and Debir king of Eglon, saying, ‘Come up to me and help me, that we may attack Gibeon, for it has made peace with Joshua and with the children of Israel.’ Therefore the five kings of the Amorites, the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish, and the king of Eglon, gathered together and went up, they and all their armies, and camped before Gibeon and made war against it. And the men of Gibeon sent to Joshua at the camp at Gilgal, saying, ‘Do not forsake your servants; come up to us quickly, save us and help us, for all the kings of the Amorites who dwell in the mountains have gathered together against us.’ So Joshua ascended from Gilgal, he and all the people of war with him, and all the mighty men of valor. And the Lord said to Joshua, ‘Do not fear them, for I have delivered them into your hand; not a man of them shall stand before you.’ Joshua therefore came upon them suddenly, having marched all night from Gilgal. So the Lord routed them before Israel, killed them with a great slaughter at Gibeon, chased them along the road that goes to Beth Horon, and struck them down as far as Azekah and Makkedah. And it happened, as they fled before Israel and were on the descent of Beth Horon, that the Lord cast down large hailstones from heaven on them as far as Azekah, and they died. There were more who died from the hailstones than the children of Israel killed with the sword. Then Joshua spoke to the Lord in the day when the Lord delivered up the Amorites before the children of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel: ‘Sun, stand still over Gibeon; and Moon, in the Valley of Aijalon.’ So the sun stood still, and the moon stopped, till the people had revenge upon their enemies. Is this not written in the Book of Jasher? So the sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and did not hasten to go down for about a whole day. And there has been no day like that, before it or after it, that the Lord heeded the voice of a man; for the Lord fought for Israel. Then Joshua returned, and all Israel with him, to the camp at Gilgal.”
One of the many great values of the Word of God is that it gives us examples of what happens when a person obeys the Lord, and also, when a person does not obey the Lord. The only way that faith can grow in a person is by seeing the Word and the experience that is written in it. For it is written: “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” Romans 10:17. When a person reads believing what they are reading, then faith starts to grow and become stronger. And a person also needs to believe this, as it is written: “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.” Hebrews 13:8. God does not change. So, He was able to do great things before. He is able to do great things today. And also, He will be able to do them tomorrow.
Now then, when is God able to work miraculously in our lives? For this to happen, we need to get into the compliment of things that need to be present in a person so that God’s miracles can be seen, because this does not just happen. Can God heed the voice of a man, as it is written, like He did for Joshua? Yes, but not in the manner that many people think erroneously.
For starters, if a prayer is answered (as a person desires), but outside of God’s order, it is not God that is answering that prayer. So, we need to be very careful because the enemy is also listening to what we are asking for, and he could give us the illusion of an answer, or give us what we are looking for that goes against the will of the Lord. If we understand just who Satan is, that he is all evil, then we can understand that he is capable of many things, everything that is within his reach to help us deviate, especially if we are walking down an erroneous path. The enemy will always try to encourage deviation, that we feel confident in our sin. And if he can keep us under the illusion that God is the One that is fulfilling our desires (to make us think that we are ok), he is very happy to do so. Satan will do everything that is possible for him that can help get us off the path, to go against God’s will, to support disobedience, and finally, to help bring about our destruction.
How can we avoid having our prayers answered by the wrong person? By understanding and making God the Lord of our lives in a very practical and literal way is how we do it. Christ needs to become the center of our lives, just like Joshua did. Joshua was completely submitted to God, and he sustained an unconditional faithfulness towards the Almighty, not really caring about what others were doing, as it is written: “And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” Joshua 24:15. This is the foundation that should be in every Christ follower; belonging to God.
The second thing that should be in a person is what Joshua precisely did which was to serve the Lord, not looking for his own will. Joshua didn’t do things because they seemed right to him, or because it was his idea to go to the promised land. Joshua submitted to God’s will, and he looked to do what God wanted him to do. He was a man that was obedient to God. God will prosper what we intend to do when it is what He wants, not our will, and even far less, when we are doing things wrong or walking in sin. God will not do any miracles if you are going down the path of error by practicing sin. Now, this does not mean or imply that you have to do things to get God to work, but rather, you have to be aligned with God so that God can manifest his greatness. These are two very different things.
So then, here is the recipe (if you will) that can help us see God’s miracles in our lives: belonging to the Lord, putting our faith on Him, looking for His Word daily so that our faith can continue growing, submitting to Him as the Lord He needs to be in our lives, putting His Word into works, obeying and serving Him, and aligning ourselves with His will. Do these things imply perfection? Absolutely not. Joshua wasn’t perfect. There is only one that is good and that is God. But, if we try to obey Him with fear and trembling, just as the Scriptures tell us how we need to take care of our salvation (because we need to take our salvation seriously and not for granted), and we look to fulfill His purposes, we will then see great things. Our prayers will arrive before the Throne of Grace. But the question is: “Is your life aligned with the Lord, by looking to fulfill His purposes?” Lord bless! John